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Showing posts with label California. Show all posts
Showing posts with label California. Show all posts

Friday 30 October 2020

Monsters Mummies & Mayhem

Monsters Mummies & Mayhem AT Hollywood Museum


Location:
Hollywood, California, USA
Address: 1660 N Highland Ave.
Date: June 2019
Website:  thehollywoodmuseum.com/

    The Hollywood Museum in Los Angeles has so many movie props and memorabilia that they fill every nook and cranny.  Since it is the Halloween season we thought we would revisit their basement and a few classic horror movie icons.

Frankenstein At Hollywood Museum

  First off is an old classic, Frankenstein. While the novel was written in 1818, we are talking movies here. This Frankenstein was played by Boris Karloff in the 1931 film and is seen above with his bride from the 1935 film Bride of Frankenstein.

Bela Legosi's Face At Hollywwod MuseumBoris Karloff Face At Hollywood Museum

  There were life masks of Boris Karloff and Bela Legosi. Bela Legosi had played Dracula and along with Boris was part of Universal Studio's classic monster movies.

King Kong Hollywood Museum

   Another early creature that scared audiences was the great ape, King Kong.  The original King Kong was a stop motion model.  The museum had various King Kongs on display.

The Birds At Hollywood Museum

  Flying ahead a few decades there were some birds from Alfred Hitchcock's The Birds.  We are not sure if these were just props or former movie stars preserved for future generations.

Elvira At The Hollywood Museum

  While not a movie monster herself, Elvira became very popular in the 1980s as a host presenting B grade horror movies.  Horror movies had never really gone away, but the 80s saw a group of classic horror villains rise to stardom and appear in numerous sequels.

Michael Meyers At Hollywood Museum

  Michael Meyers changed Haloween night forever and gained his place as one of the greatest characters in slasher film history.  Michael escapes from a sanitarium and visits his hometown for a night of fright and murder.  Jamie Lee Curtis stars as a babysitter that Michael is stalking while wearing a plain white mask.  So far there have been eleven Halloween films.

Friday The 13th Jason At The Hollywood Museum

   The next mask wearer to terrorize teenagers is Jason Voorhees from the Friday The 13th movies.  He drowned as a boy and is best known for wearing his hockey mask while slashing his way through twelve (or is it only eleven?) movies.  This franchise just has to make Friday The 13th: The 13th.

A Nightmare On Elm Street At The Hollywood Museum

  The next horror franchise to arrive in the 1980s started with A Nightmare On Elm Street.  This movie starred Freddy Krueger who terrorized teenagers in their dreams.  Johnny Depp's Hollywood dreams came true after being one of Freddy's victims.  There have only been nine movies in this series but there was a Freddy vs Jason cross-over movie made.

Chucky At The Hollywood Museum

  In the late 80s came Chucky.  He was a psychotic, knife wielding doll from the Child's Play movies.  Only 8 movies made so far.  He did find love in Bride of Chucky just like Frankenstein did over 60 years before himIf you have ever seen videos of dogs wearing costumes, and we know you have, the Chucky costume is one of the best.

Blair Witch Project At Hollywood Museum

  The museum is crammed with movie props and costumes from many other films.  There was this stick figure from The Blair Witch Project. The Blair Witch Project grossed almost 250 million dollars on a budget of less than 500 thousand.  It's shaky hand held camera work caused as much tension and fear as it did nausea.

Sweeny Todd Costume At The Hollywood Museum

   After having a role in A Nightmare On Elm Street, Johnny Depp spent a lot of time making movies with a Halloween feel to them thanks to director Tim Burton.  Tim Burton's The Nightmare Before Christmas is both a Halloween and a Christmas classic.  Johnny's Sweeney Todd costume was on display. 

Monsters Inc. At Hollywood Museum

   We headed upstairs again to escape from the horrors we had seen in the basement.  We did spot a couple more monsters up in a corner.  Mike Wazowski and Sulley from Monsters Inc. are a little less creepy than the hundereds of items you can find in The Hollywood Museum's dungeon.


Map of Our World
The Hollywood Museum

Post # 292

Thursday 30 April 2020

Frasier On The Backlot

SOHO section of Paramount Backlot.

Location: Los Angeles, California, USA
Address: 5515 Melrose Ave.
Date: June 2019
Website: www.paramountstudiotour.com

  After a successful run on the sitcom Cheers, the character of Frasier Crane was given his own show.  Frasier aired for 11 seasons as did Cheers before it.  We were fans of both shows.

STAGE 25 on Paramount Backlot.

  Kelsey Grammer played the role of Frasier and didn't have far to go between jobs.  Both shows were filmed at Paramount Studios and both shows were filmed on Stage 25.  We took a Paramount Studio tour when we were in Los Angeles.  We were able to see the exterior of this famous sound stage as well as visit a section of the backlot where one episode from the first season of Frasier was filmed.


SOHO section of the Paramount Backlot played the role of The Hayson Gallery from Frasier.

  The Paramount backlot has a section named SOHO after the New York City area.  In episode six of season one, Frasier purchases a piece from an art gallery.  He is embarrased when the artist comes to his party and declares the work a fraud.  Frasier is angry and further frustrated when the art gallery dealer insists all sales are final.  He stands on the street ready to throw a brick through the gallery window.  Frasier would be standing between the bike rider and the green subway entrance in the photo above.  The subway entrance was removed in order to film the scene.

Paramount Backlot.

  A couple walks by and Frasier hides his brick behind his back.  You can see the building above behind them as they cross the street.  Frasier turns to throw his brick but this time his brother Niles pulls up in his car.  Niles tries to calm Frasier by telling him of a time Frasier stopped him from exacting revenge.  Frasier gives Niles the brick and reminds him of how stromg he was despite the nicknames, such as Peachfuzz.  Niles hurls the brick through the window, tosses some money into the gallery and leaves.  

"We may be barbarians, but we pay for our pillaging!"


See more locations from the Paramount Studios Backlot.

Map of Our World
Post # 285

Saturday 29 February 2020

Leaping Cats

A Serval At Safari NIagara.

Location: San Diego, California, USA
Address: 2920 Zoo Dr.
Date: Feb 2014
Website: www.sandiegozoo.org

    The year 2020 is a leap year.  This February 29th we celebrate one of the animal world's greatest leapers.  The serval is a cat that can jump over 9 feet into the air and over 11 feet distance horizontally.  This allows it to snatch a passing bird right out of the sly.

A Leaping Caracal At San Diego Zoo Safari Park

  We witnessed the serval's jumping skills first hand at the San Diego Zoo.  At the San Diego Zoo Safari Park another cat showed off its skills.  In the photo above a caracal launched itself and twisted upside down so it was parallel to the ground.  It did this to catch a little fuzzy toy that was spun around by a string.

A caracal at Toronto Zoo.

  A caracal (above) can also leap over 9 feet into the air. The caracal wins the beauty pageant and ties in the high jump but the serval is the better hunter.  Both cats are relatively small and weigh up to 18kg.

A Serval At San Diego Zoo Backstage Pass.

  The serval has the biggest ears of any cat and the best hearing.  It also has the longest legs in proportion to its body.  Not to mention that it has black stripes that resemble those of a tiger.  Its long legs let it snatch rodents down tunnels and its curved claws let it hook fish right out of the water.


   It is said that when a serval pounces at prey it makes a successful kill 50 percent of the time.  In the video above it looks like it grabbed the toy 2 out of 3 times.  A leap year success rate is 1 out of every 4.

Map of Our World
San Diego Zoo (Backstage Pass) , San Diego Zoo Safari Park (Cheetah Run)

Post # 279

Wednesday 20 November 2019

Happy Days House

The Cunnigham House From Happy Days.

Location: Los Angeles, California, USA
Address:  565 N Cahuenga Blvd.
Date: June 2019
Website:  www.paramountstudiotour.com

  Happy Days the popular television show ran for about 10 years after first airing in 1974.  It followed the life of Richie Cunningham (Ron Howard) and his friend The Fonz (Henry Winkler).  The show was filmed at Paramount Studios in Los Angeles so it is not surprising that when they were looking for a home to stand in as the Cunningham residence they found one just a few streets over from the studio.

LADot Trolly Passes Paramount Studios In Los Angeles.

  Happy Days was filmed on Stage 19 of the Paramount Studios lot.  In the photo above, the red trolley is just about to pass the building.

Entrance to the Paramount Studios Tour.

  If you take the Paramount Studios Tour, Stage 19 is located right next to the tour entrance building on Melrose Avenue.

Writing On Wall At Larchmont Cafe Gratitude.

  On North Larchmont Avenue is Cafe Gratitude. After our Paramount tour we walked here for some vegan dishes.  A few streets further west is North Cahuenga Blvd.  The Happy Days house is located at number 565. The fictional house is supposed to be located in Millwaukee, Wisconsin at 565 North Clinton Drive.  At least they got the number right.

The Cunnigham Residence From Happy Days on Garbage Day.

  Unlike some homes used in television or movies, this home has not changed much in the last 40 years so it was easy to recognize. Sunday and Monday are happy days. Tuesday and Wednesday are happy days. Thursday & Friday unfortunately appear to be garbage days.

Happy Days House N Cahuenga Blvd. Los Angeles.

  The house was used for exterior shots during the shows run. We enjoyed our brief visit to relive some Happy Days memories with the Cunninghams and of course Fonzie living over the garage. We give it two thumbs up. "Aaaay!"

See more locations from the Paramount Studio Backlot.

Map of Our World
Post # 269

Friday 20 September 2019

On The Set of Jeopardy!

Jeopardy! Sign At Sony Pictures Studios.

Location: Culver City, California, USA
Address: 10202 Washington Blvd.
Date: June 2019
Website:  www.sonypicturesstudiostours.com

  As part of our Sony Pictures Studio tour we were going to visit either the set of Wheel of Fortune or the set of Jeopardy!  The Sony Pictures Studio Tour is a walking tour of the studio grounds.  Today's set visit was Jeopardy!  Contestants are given answers and then must phrase their response in the form of a question.  So if the answer was "A Merv Griffin created game show that has been around since 1964".  The question would be "What is Jeopardy!?"

Wheel Of Fortune At Sony Pictures Studios.

  The two game show sound stages are located right beside each other on the lot so we walked past the Wheel of Fortune stage to get to Stage 10 for Jeopardy!

Jeopardy! Contestants Row

  Once inside we were face to face with the Jeopardy! contestants row.  Everyone in our group took turns pretending that they had what it takes to answer Jeopardy! questions.

Behind The Scenes On The Jeopardy! Set

  As we stepped behind the panel we could see the tablets they use to write their final answers.   There are also lights at each position to let the contestants know who buzzed in first.

Jeopardy! Buzzer

  The photo above is of one of the buzzers in its holder.

Alex Trebek Cut-out

Alex Trebek has been the host of Jeopardy! since 1984.  He has had some health issues recently but is fighting to keep going and he has the support of a legion of fans.

The Daytime Emmys Belonging to Jeopardy!

Jeopardy! has won 33 Daytime Emmys over the years.  There was a cabinet displaying the hardware.

Jeopardy! Trophies.

  There were other awards on display such as the Jeopardy! college championship trophy.

A Jeopardy! set made out of Lego bricks.

  In 1932 this Danish company was formed making interlocking bricks for children.  What is Lego?  There was a Jeopardy! set made out of Lego.

Mr T and Alex Trebek Dressed As Mr T

  There was a photo of two Mr. Ts.  There was the Mr. T we know from The A-Team and the other Mr. T as in Trebek.  Both men were sporting lots of gold chains.

Maple Leaf Trebek Jersey.

  There was a Toronto Maple Leaf Trebek jersey on display.  Alex is an avid sports fan and was born in Canada.  He wore this jersey during a video clue shoot.

Alex Trebek's Game Chart.

  If you have ever watched the show and wondered what Alex is writing down during the show, we now know.  He has a chart of the board and he crosses out the answer once a contestant has given him the correct question.


The Set of Jeopardy!

  Finally we had a chance to sit in the audience in front of the set.  The front row is for a group of judges who have to decide if a question was given correctly or if something needs changing during the show.  The big game board was up on the stage, but the set was dark as there was no taping that day.  The answer is "We did!"  The question is "Who had a good time going behind the scenes on the set of Jeopardy!?"


Map of Our World
Post # 263

Saturday 20 July 2019

Hello Kitty Grand Cafe

Hello Kitty Cafe Entrance Irvine Centre California.

Location: Irvine, California, USA
Address:  360 Spectrum Center Drive
Date: June 2019
Website: www.sanrio.com

  Hello Kitty was created by company Sanrio in 1974 and since then she has appeared on everything from pencil cases to electric guitars.  Hello Kitty products generate billions of dollars every year.  People just can't get enough of that cute little kitty with no mouth.  That includes us.  When we heard that California had a Hello Kitty Cafe where we could also have tea, we made our reservation right away.

Inside the Hello Kitty Cafe Irvine Center California.

  The Hello Kitty Cafe is located in the Irvine Spectrum Center.  The Irvine Spectrum Center is located about 1 to 3 hours drive (Welcome to LA!) south of Los Angeles.  Once you arrive you can load up on Hello Kitty shaped cookies, cakes, macarons and more.

Picture of Desserts at Hello Kitty Grand Cafe

  The cafe is decorated with drawings of desserts that feature Hello Kitty.  Some of them were available and very similar to what was pictured.  Anyone can purchase items from the cafe but you need a reservation to have tea in the Bow Room.  There are only about six tables in the Bow Room so book ahead.

The Bow Room At Hello Kitty Grand Cafe

  The Bow Room is located through a door at the back of the cafe.  If you have a reservation you are welcomed into this room, while everyone else looks up from their Hello Kitty cookies to try and sneak a peak.  It is called the Bow Room after the little pink bow Hello Kitty always has in her hair.  Sorry Pochacco but this is not the Bow Wow room.  Only Hello Kitty is featured, none of her large group of Sanrio friends.

Hello Kitty Tea Place Setting.

  We were seated at our table for two.  We had place settings of gold cutlery, pink tinted glasses and a Kitty shaped plate.  We each had pink sugar shaped like Hello Kitty herself.  How sweet.

Hello Kitty Bow Room Tea Pots.
 Hello Kitty Tea Cup.

  The tea cups and tea pots all had a gold Hello Kitty on them and of course a bow.  It was too cute.

Hello Kitty Coconut Cream

  We started our meal off with a fruit salad topped with coconut cream.  It had a Hello Kitty face inside a heart on top.

Tea Service At The Hello Kitty Grand Cafe.

  Hello Kitty's backstory claims here real name is Kitty White and she comes from England.  For this reason we hoped she knew a thing or two about high tea service.  She did not disappoint.  We enjoyed everything.  We were served 3 tiers of scones, quiches, sandwiches and desserts.

Hello Kitty Square Cake At Hello Kitty Grand Cafe.

  We devoured everything in between sips of tea.  One of the last desserts we ate was a square cake with a frosted Hello Kitty on top.  Sorry Kitty but looking cute will not stop us from eating you.  Same goes for you Hello Kitty shaped sugar.  Into the tea cup you go.

Hello Kitty Bow Room Irvine California.

  The Bow Room serves cocktails in the evening.  But it also looked like you could have your tea around the Hello Kitty silhouette bar.  We enjoyed the Bow Room and our visit immersed in Hello Kitty.  As we left the cafe we passed a Hello Kiity near the entrance.  Goodbye Kitty.......for now.

Hello Kitty At the Hello Kitty Grand Cafe.

Map of Our World
Hello Kitty Grand Cafe

Post # 257